MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

The UFC welterweight division has suddenly been consumed by chaos. According to a report from ESPN, the UFC is considering stripping interim welterweight champion Colby Covington of his title, and promoting an undisputed title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and challenger Darren Till. This report from ESPN follows some strange Tweets from Till last night, in which he told Woodley to “accept the fight,” and claimed Covington was “out.”

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

UFC 227 has taken a major hit. Swiss light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir has been forced out of his main card collision with Swedish star Alexander Gustafsson with an injury. This per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Earlier this month, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub became the latest in a long list of fighters to butt heads with UFC President Dana White — and boy, did they ever butt heads. According to former UFC lightweight Josh Thompson, Schaub probably won’t be the last fighter to find themselves embroiled in a public dispute with White, either. In fact, Thomson said White could become the latest public figure to be targeted by the #MeToo movement, which supports survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and exposes the perpetrators of these acts.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC Boise, Australian featherweight contender Alexander Volkanovski picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, dominating the durable Darren Elkins to a lopsided unanimous decision win. In the moments after this win, Volkanovski said that he’d like to fight Chad Mendes next, so long as Mendes defeated Myles Jury on the UFC Boise main card.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that the first semifinal bout of Bellator’s action-packed Heavyweight Grand Prix will go down on October 12, when reigning light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader battles Matt Mitrione at Bellator 205 in Uncasville, Conn. As it turns out, the second semifinal bout will occur the very next night, as Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen are set to battle on October 13 inside Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum. This news was first reported by Newsday.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Yesterday, we learned that the United States Anti-Doping Agency had determined that Anderson Silva’s recent failed drug test had been due to a tainted supplement, and that he’d been handed a one-year suspension for his ingesting this supplement. This suspension is retroactive to October, 2017, which means Silva will be able to fight again this October. As always, Silva will have plenty of interesting options in terms of opponents for his anticipated return to the cage. Perhaps the most compelling option of all, of course, would be his long-time rival Georges St-Pierre.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Alexander Gustafsson wants a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, who he lost a split decision to in 2015. Unfortunately for the Swede, Cormier is currently stationed at heavyweight, where he recently captured the divisional title with a first round knockout of Stipe Miocic. At present, it looks as though Cormier will defend his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar sometime in the new year. That being said, he has also claimed that he’d like to drop back down to light heavyweight to defend that title in the meantime.

Drake Riggs - July 19, 2018

Just when we think that the welterweight division has a clear path to move forward on atop the title scene, a wrench potentially could have been thrown in the mix. At UFC 225 early last month, Colby Covington captured interim UFC welterweight gold when he defeated the former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos by unanimous decision.

Jason Kindschy - July 18, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back again, Penn Nation! First up we are joined by the UFC’s newly-ranked featherweight powerhouse, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. Coming off a dominant victory against the always durable Darren Elkins at UFC FN 135 in Boise, Idaho over the weekend, Alex is going to recap the fight and give his thoughts on the performance. He’ll also give us an update on his injured ribs and explain how he managed to persevere through excruciating pain to get the win. After the fight, Alex challenged Chad Mendes to a showdown in Australia later this year and he’s got plenty to say about that as well.

Jordy McElroy - July 18, 2018

Brendan Schaub drew a line in the sand with UFC President Dana White last Thursday in what might have been the most visceral social media clap-back of the year. A minor disagreement quickly escalated into all-out war between the UFC boss and former UFC heavyweight. It wasn’t the first time a former or current employee has raked White through the coals publically, and if history has taught us anything, it won’t be the last, either.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Good news for former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and his legions of fans. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has determined that his failed drug test was due to a contaminated substance. As a result, he’s been handed a one-year suspension, retroactive to October 2017. This means he’ll be eligible to fight again this October. This news comes from Ariel Helwani of ESPN.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Paulo Costa, who now holds the number-eight spot in the UFC middleweight rankings, boasts one of the most impressive physiques in MMA. His physique is so impressive, in fact, that some naysayers have accused him of doping. Surfing legend Kelly Slater is one of these naysayers.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Bellator’s anticipated welterweight Grand Prix will be a little different from the other tournament’s Bellator President Scott Coker has promoted in the past. Because Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will be involved in the tournament, the welterweight belt will be up for grabs starting with MacDonald’s first tournament bout. In other words, the tournament winner will be Bellator’s welterweight champion, and it’s conceivable that the title could change hands more than once as the tournament unfurls.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

According to an Instagram post from Russian MMA powerhouse M-1 Global, the promotion has signed a deal with The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Apparently, this deal will give M-1 Challenge champions the opportunity to sign with the UFC. From the sounds of it, this deal will also see M-1 scout talent for the UFC.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

“Platinum” Mike Perry and “Super” Sage Northcutt are two of the most interesting characters in MMA. They’re also two of the most exciting fighters in the game. Based on those reasons alone, it’s easy to understand why people want to see them fight. The buildup to the fight would be massively entertaining, and the fight itself would probably be even better. Furthermore, the fight actually makes quite a bit of sense right now. After a few fights at lightweight, Northcutt has settled in the welterweight division — the division Perry calls home — where he recently delivered a big knockout win over Zak Ottow. Perry, meanwhile, is riding high on a bloody decision win over Paul Felder.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Yesterday evening, we learned that former UFC middleweight star Chris Leben will return to action this fall when he battles fellow UFC veteran Phil Baroni in a bareknuckle boxing bout. The fight will be promoted by the upstart World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) in Casper, Wyoming. This is not Leben’s first attempt at a comeback. Several years ago, the UFC vet was expected to start competing under the Bellator banner. Unfortunately for him, these plans were derailed when it was learned that he had a severe heart condition.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

UFC 228 is pretty behind on getting itself put together. But in the coming weeks we’ll surely get some more clarity and today we start with the 115ers. Already in the works for the UFC’s return to Dallas, Texas is a strawweight battle between two of the division’s very best in Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

May the MMA Gods answer our prayer! With Bellator featherweight champion Julia Budd’s continued success and solidification as the second best 145 to ever do it, the question that comes with such always becomes, ‘what’s next?’.